Proposal (602) to South American Classification Committee

Revise linear sequence of species in Thripadectes

Effect on SACC: This proposal would make a minor change to the species sequence in Thripadectes to reflect research phylogenetic research.

Background: Our current species sequence in Thripadectes is a traditional one:

Thripadectes ignobilis Uniform Treehunter
Thripadectes melanorhynchus Black-billed Treehunter
Thripadectes holostictus Striped Treehunter
Thripadectes virgaticeps Streak-capped Treehunter
Thripadectes flammulatus Flammulated Treehunter
Thripadectes scrutator Rufous-backed Treehunter

New Information: Derryberry et al. (2011) found relationships among the species of Thripadectes that shows that the current linear sequence is misleading in terms of phylogeny.  Claramunt et al. (2013) also displayed these results for revising Automolus and relatives (see prop. 600):

Derryberry et al. (2011) found that the genus has two major divisions, and Claramunt et al. (2013) resurrected the name Rhopoctites as a subgenus name to mark the two groups. The major difference between the traditional view of relationships and the one revealed by DNA sequence data is that T. ignobilis is the sister to T. flammulatus + T. scrutator. To modify our sequence to reflect the tree above, it would look like this:

Thripadectes ignobilis Uniform Treehunter
Thripadectes flammulatus Flammulated Treehunter
Thripadectes scrutator Rufous-backed Treehunter

Thripadectes holostictus Striped Treehunter
Thripadectes virgaticeps Streak-capped Treehunter
Thripadectes melanorhynchus Black-billed Treehunter

Analysis/Recommendation: The data behind this phylogeny are extensive in terms of loci sampled, and all the important nodes are strongly supported. This is a minor but necessary change as long as we aim to have our linear sequences reflect phylogeny, and thus recommend a YES.

Literature Cited

CLARAMUNT, S., E. P. DERRYBERRY, C. D. CADENA, A. M. CUERVO, C. SANÍN, AND R. T. BRUMFIELD. 2013. Phylogeny and classification of Automolus foliage-gleaners and allies (Furnariidae). Condor 115: 375-385.

DERRYBERRY, E., S. CLARAMUNT, G. DERRYBERRY, R. T. CHESSER, J. CRACRAFT, A. ALEIXO, J. PÉREZ-ÉMAN, J. V. REMSEN, JR., AND R. T. BRUMFIELD. 2011. Lineage diversification and morphological evolution in a large-scale continental radiation: the Neotropical ovenbirds and woodcreepers (Aves: Furnariidae). Evolution 65: 2973-2986.

Van Remsen, November 2013

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Comments from Stiles: “YES, to reflect well-documented genetic relationships.”

Comments from Zimmer: “YES. This arrangement appears well-supported by the recent genetic data.”

Comments from Pacheco: “YES. Reflete bem os dados genéticos recém publicados.”